Taste of Troy makes culinary dreams come true, benefits charity

For Beth Ingram, owner of Ingram’s Candies in Troy, her dreams often become reality.

Ingram thinks up new recipes which eventually appear on her store’s shelves, and one of her recipes has even won an award.

At last year’s Taste of Troy, Ingram won best desert with her Movie Mix — a mixture of melted caramel and dark, white and milk chocolate chips poured on top of pretzels. This year, she hopes to win again with her salted caramel brownies.

Expected to bring in between 750 to 1,000 people, the 22nd-annual Taste of Troy will feature more than 30 restaurants from the Troy area, all of whom will serve different food. All proceeds from the event will go to the non-profit Boys & Girls Club of Troy.

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The Boys & Girls Club provides services such as its after school program and gives “local youth a platform which allows them to develop into self-reliant, responsible, contributing members of the community,” according to its website.

“I love what they’re supporting,” Ingram said. “My son went to Boys & Girls Club, and that’s what this supports and it’s an awesome cause.”

Amid Michigan’s freezing winter, the Taste of Troy’s theme is a garden party.

Ingram plans to showcase an Easter-themed booth, complete with eggs and baskets.

Easter is one of the more popular times of year for her store: She makes solid chocolate bunnies, chocolate peeps, and custom-made Easter baskets. All of the candy in her store is made fresh, without preservatives or trans fats.

Baking chocolate and candy right in the store keeps customers coming back.

“Nobody does this anymore,” she said, “ and I think that’s why we’re popular. People want us to do well and support us because they want to keep artisan businesses like this around.”

A former account executive for Ford Motor Co., Ingram said she started making chocolates as a hobby more than a decade ago. Then, she began selling her candies to Nino Salvaggio and Henry Ford and Beaumont hospitals.

She began renting commercial space to make the candy, and that’s when she decided to open Ingram’s, now a year and a half old.

Among the Taste of Troy’s attractions include a live auction, hosted by WDIV-TV meteorologist Andrew Humphrey, and a special appearance by Detroit Lions running back Joique Bell.

“I take great pride in having the opportunity to reach out to young people in this community and encourage them to follow their dreams and become good people with positive attitudes and a willingness to help others,” Bell said in a statement.